Year in Review: In Memory
Pictured: Jill Kinmont Boothe and Dave McCoy/
JILL KINMONT-BOOTHE (b. 1936):
Jill Kinmont Boothe, an Eastern Sierra icon, passed away on Feb. 9. She was a week shy of her 76th birthday.
A national ski champion who had a Sports Illustrated cover on her resume, Jill’s career was cut short by a ski accident in the winter of 1955 which left her a quadriplegic, Kinmont Boothe rose above her physical limitations to become an accomplished schoolteacher and artist.
As husband John Boothe, who married Jill in 1976, said, “I never thought of her as a disabled person … I didn’t look at it that way. She came off as normal in a minute.”
She later obtained her teaching credential, and taught in Bishop elementary schools from 1975-1996.
When asked if Jill was the best skier he ever coached, Dave McCoy said, “I don’t think you should say things like that. She worked like crazy to make herself better. She didn’t want to beat anyone else particularly. She just wanted to better herself. She was that kind of person – every day she had to do better. And she helped other people be what they wanted to be.”
John Boothe talked about one student from her Beverly Hills days who wrote years later and said he’d been put in her class to “catch up.” He just wanted her to know that he had indeed caught up – and passed the Bar Exam.
“The world gets screwed up going after yesterdays,” McCoy said. “It’s about now.” And Jill Kinmont Boothe was always about now. Her younger brother Jerry said she was “always optimistic to the end.”
ROBERT PAUL BORAH (b. 1956): A 34-year Mammoth Lakes resident, Borah died Jan. 7 of a heart attack at his home in Mammoth Lakes. Robert, commonly known as “Bob” or “Bobby,” was born May 14, 1956, at March Air Force Base and raised in Riverside, Calif. Shortly after graduating from Cal Poly Pomona, he went on a ski trip with friends to Mammoth and decided to make the Eastern Sierra his lifelong home.
In the early 1980s he worked at Mammoth Lakes Bank of America as a Loan Officer and was the Branch Manager of Arrowhead Pacific Savings and Loan. He organized water skiing and softball, serving as team captain of many a softball team, and was involved with the “Eastern Sierra Water Ski Association.”
A long standing Lion’s Club member as an officer and board member, he owned A-1 Auto Repair and B&W Games. He also coached many sports and activities of his daughter, Judy, now a freshman at the University of Dubuque in Dubuque, Ia.
MICHAEL LINGLEY (b. 1962): Lingley, 49, died Feb. 29, at the Alexander Cohen Hospice House in Hughson, Calif., following a courageous battle with cancer.
Mike and family moved to Oakdale, Calif., in 1964, where he graduated from Oakdale High School in 1980. He moved to Mammoth Lakes in 1982, where he worked for Mammoth Mountain Ski Area as a lift operator during ski season and as a painter after the snow melted. Later, he became an electrician and worked for O’Kelly Electric. He lived off and on in Mammoth during his entire adult life, and lived happily for the last 2 years in Sunny Slopes.
Mike loved to ski and hike the mountains. Although he never would admit it, he was an accomplished guitar player and knew more about music than just about anybody. His home brewed beers were legendary especially the doppelbock.
EVELYN “EVIE” WERTHMANN (b. 1935): A charter member of Mammoth’s Morning Rotary Club, Evie, who passed away in March at age 76, was renowned for her culinary skill (if you’ve ever had a bear claw at the Java Joint, you would understand). She and husband Paul moved to Mammoth Lakes in 1998 from Detroit, Mich., where Evie was born.
Evie and Paul were living proof that you should never give up on love. It was her fourth marriage and his third. But to hear Paul talk about Evie, you’d think they were both still teenagers.
When asked how they met, Paul simply said, “Have you seen ‘Fiddler on the Roof?’ We met through a Yenta.”
A beloved mother, grandmother and wife, Evie and Paul had never visited Mammoth before a trip west to see one of Evie’s daughter’s. Within a day, recalled Paul with a chuckle, they were sending home for the dog. “For Evie, there was no better place [than Mammoth],” said Paul.
As a testament to Evie’s involvement in the community and the good friends she made, a Catholic mass was held in her honor on Wednesday. This despite the fact that Evie was Jewish.
CLARK VAUGHN (b. 1948): A family man and lawyer by profession, Vaughn came to Mammoth in the 1980s. he and his wife became more and more involved in their church and doing things that were both helping people and, at the same time, expressing their religious beliefs by deed as well as word.
In 1988, the Vaughns went on a trip to Ecuador with a team from Church on the Mountain in Crowley Lake, and, at the end of two weeks, they had found their true calling.
The family moved to Ecuador and started an organization that would rescue abandoned babies, give them shelter, medical care, food, and lots of love.
After 20 years of service, Clark decided it was time to think about easing into retirement. With that in mind, in 2010 they bought a modest house in Navarre, Fla., where they could be close to their grandchildren, while shuttling back and forth to Ecuador.
In late 2010, Clark was diagnosed with A.L.S., also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
He passed away in March at age 63, surrounded by his family.
CARL PRESTON (b. 1935): Carl Preston moved from San Gabriel to Mammoth Lakes during the housing boom of the 1960s. He started Mono County Plumbing and had a successful business for many years.
Later he moved to Mesquite, Nev., and started yet another successful plumbing business during that area’s construction boom in the 1990s.
He enjoyed hunting, fishing and playing with his many friends. He was the life of the party and could nurse a drink for hours. Carl entertained the town with his extraordinary humor and insights on local situations.
DEBORAH BARLOW (b. 1953): Deborah Margaret Barlow (nee Exley) passed away on March 29 after a short fight with pneumonia and leukemia. She was born in St. Paul, Minn. In1984, she moved to Orange County, Calif., and in 2009 to Swall Meadows, Calif. Debbie lived a very full life. She had a strong faith in God and enjoyed sewing, hiking and fishing.
She was an advocate for patients at Mammoth Hospital, helping and promoting the Mammoth Hospital Cancer Outreach Program, and was very involved in charities in the Eastern Sierra.
TODD ADAMSON: Todd Adamson, 47, passed away on May 27, as a result of injuries sustained in a motorcycle race south of Ridgecrest, Calif. Todd was a resident of Crowley Lake, Calif., and worked at Mammoth Mountain as a snowcat driver, and most recently on Ski Patrol.
STANLEY THAYER “SKIP” HARVEY (b. 1951): Skip, two-term Mammoth Lakes Town Councilman, Owner of Base Camp Cafe and longtime ski instructor at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area died in his home on July 16, surrounded by close friends. He was 60.
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Skip moved to California in the fall of 1974, and got a job managing Pat’s Liquors in Manhattan Beach.
He and lifelong friend Gordon Clements opened the Annex Deli together in Manhattan Beach in April 1975. Skip began skiing Mammoth in the ’70s and bought a small condo at Krystal Villa West sometime around 1980.
In 1993, he sold the Annex Deli and moved to Mammoth full-time, where he was already working as a ski instructor and Ski School Supervisor. Skip owned Mammoth’s well known Base Camp Cafe, which is now run by current Manager Janet Matthews, a veteran of many years as Skip’s right hand. In 2004, Skip ran for Mammoth Lakes Town Council and won. He served two terms and served two years as Mayor. He completed his last term of office in June.
Family, friends, colleagues and dignitaries packed the Canyon Lodge back deck for his memorial, which included a color guard.
MARY LEMMON (b. 1923): Mary Lemmon, a longtime Mammoth Lakes resident, and the wife of the town’s first mayor, passed away on Aug. 6 after a battle with cancer. She was 88.
Mary was born in 1923 in Honolulu, Hawaii, which at the time was not yet a state. In December 1947, she married Boyd Lemmon in Eugene, Ore.
The couple owned a condo in Mammoth for many years, and moved to town on a permanent basis in 1976. While in Mammoth, Mary was very active with the Mammoth Lakes Hospital Auxiliary, and painted and exhibited her own watercolor works. Boyd was a local practicing Certified Public Accountant, and after the Town’s incorporation in 1984 was elected its first Mayor.
When Boyd passed away in 2008, Mary relocated to the Village of Laguna Woods, where she spent part of the last few years playing bridge, dancing and continuing her painting.
FRANCIS JERRY TEACHOUT (b. 1930): Frank was born and raised in St. Joseph, Mich., where his parents owned the town bakery shop, Teachout’s Bakery, and he helped with the family business. He spent the Korean War aboard ship as a cook and baker, spending much of his tour in the Mediterranean Sea.
In the late 1950’s, he was approached by the Chief of Police in St. Joseph, and in 1956 left the bakery life behind for an almost 40-year Law Enforcement career.
He is survived by his beloved wife, Michelle Napoli, Tammy Hooper (John), Michael Teachout and Rick Teachout, children of Carol Johnson; and Susie Dauost (Todd) and John Teachout (Laurie), children of Sandy Teachout and by grandchildren Tanner and Kate, and John and Alison. His brother Johnnie and his sister Judy live in St. Joseph. There are many additional family members in Tucson, Ariz., and St. Joseph, Mich.
RICHARD “TAD” ROBERTS (b. 1947): Richard “Tad” Roberts passed away on Aug. 13 in Magalia, Calif.
Born April 7, 1947, his father worked for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, so Tad grew up in the Owens Valley and the greater Eastern Sierra. He attended Lee Vining High School and graduated in 1965.
While in high school, Tad began his firefighting career in Lee Vining. Following college, he joined the June Lake Fire Department in 1970, where he worked his way up the ranks to become Fire Chief. He held the position of Chief for 20 years before retiring.
He also worked as a Mono County Sheriff Deputy Boat Patrol and held firefighter positions with the United State Forest Service, Kern County Fire Department and CAL FIRE.
Tad served as an Eastern Sierra Unified School District Board member for 12 years.
He enjoyed hunting and trap shooting. He competed in amateur trap shooting competitions throughout the state and was a member of the Bishop Gun Club, Bridgeport Gun Club, and Paradise Rod and Gun Club.
He married his wife, Connie in September 1989 at the June Lake Fire Station under the “Balancing Rock.”
